May 31, 2000 - Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Earns Major NIH Grant; Seeks Participants for Brain Imaging Study
CINCINNATI -- Researchers at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati have received a five-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help scientists understand how brain diseases and their treatment affect the brain and its functions.
With the grant, scientists at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Imaging Research Center will study normal language development in children using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and IQ testing.
"The results of this study may improve our understanding of language development and how it is reflected in the brain, and thus affect the treatment of conditions that affect language, such as epilepsy, dyslexia, aphasia, or brain tumors," says Scott Holland, Ph.D., scientific director of the Imaging Research Center. "What we learn from imaging language functions in the brain may also help guide surgeons in the removal of damaged tissue or a tumor from the brain without causing a loss of language function."
Dr. Holland and Anna Weber, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist in Cincinnati Children's division of neurology, are recruiting 5- to 18-year-old children and adolescents with no prior history of psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, or neurological illness. Participants will undergo an IQ test, lasting about two hours, and a functional MRI brain scan, which is a painless, non-invasive procedure.
During the scan, which typically lasts less than one hour, participants are asked to perform several specific tasks at specific times. These include finger tapping, looking at pictures, and listening to words and sounds.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging uses a powerful magnet and radio waves to produce three-dimensional images showing which areas of the brain are involved in performing different tasks. "With FMRI, we can actually see the proverbial light bulb turn on when the brain thinks," says Dr. Holland.
Children will be compensated for their time. For more information, please call Wendy Bommer, R.N., research coordinator, 513-636-6965.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer, jfeuer@chmcc.org
